Be Wherever You Are
by A. Zap
Summary: The alien instrument he'd picked up makes Lance think of home and what he's left behind, but a familiar song on the mind reminds him of why he stays. (I.e. Lance plays an alien ukulele/guitar hybrid and sings a Steven Universe song.)


**Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or its characters. If I did, then we probably would've had some sort of musical episode already.**

* * *

Be Wherever You Are

Lance peered down at the object in his hands. It was an instrument, made of a deep indigo wood and with six strings strung across it. Its shape was actually pretty similar to a ukulele or guitar, though there were some slight differences. It was just a bit bigger than the ukulele Lance remembered sitting in Hunk's living room back on Earth.

He ran his hands over the alien wood as he remembered how he had gotten this, though this was the first opportunity he had to take a closer look at it.

Voltron had liberated yet another planet from Galra rule and the local people had insisted on presenting the team with gifts. Allura had tried to protest that they didn't need anything, but they persisted and Allura had finally caved on them each taking one thing.

While Pidge has drooled over pieces of tech, Hunk eyed some tools, and Keith studied a sample of knives, Lance had found himself drawn to this instrument. Once he had picked it up, one of the locals had praised his eye, calling the instrument a twumm.

Lance had known how to play a guitar for a long time. One of his brothers had learned how to play and, like most things with his siblings and other family, Lance had been pulled in as well.

He had ended up learning how to play the ukulele eventually too. During one of the Garrison's breaks, he had gone home with Hunk and his mom had been delighted to learn of his interest in the ukulele and his experience with the guitar. It hadn't taken much to pick up the second instrument's ways and pretty soon the two of them had been making impromptu concerts for Hunk, his other mother, and his little sister throughout his visit.

He gave the twumm an experimental strum as he sat in one of the castle's observation decks. It even sounded like an inbetween of a guitar and ukulele. He adjusted the strings, luckily set-up in a familiar way, to adjust the pitch to match the tones he knew should sound.

 _Maybe Hunk or Pidge could make me a tuner._ Lance absently thought as he finished tuning the guitar/ukulele hybrid.

With that done, he went through the basic chords. He ignored the slight sting in his fingers as all of his old calluses for playing had faded away. He had brought his guitar with him to the Garrison, but it'd been quite a long while since they'd left and who knew what had happened to it.

As he played a simple song, Lance sighed. As happy as he was to be playing again, all it did was make him miss home even more. He started humming a bit as he gazed out the window at the ever-changing cosmos.

A slight smile tugged at his lips as a song from an older show, but still a great one, came to mind. It was one that his sister had loved and dragged him and the rest of his siblings into.

Immediately, Lance's hands adjusted, playing a simple intro that the original didn't have.

And then he sang.

" _Isn't this such beautiful night? Whoa-oh. We're underneath a thousand shining stars."_

Well, Lance couldn't deny the beautiful sight before him. His grin widened, and he was so into his playing and singing that he didn't notice movement at the doorway to the observation deck.

" _Isn't it nice to find yourself somewhere different? Whoa-oh. Why don't you let yourself just be wherever you are?"_

Lance sat back, relaxing more as the song went on. Behind him, his audience was growing and creeping closer.

" _Look at this place; look at your faces. I've never seen you look like this before."_

These lines brought to mind his teammates. He shut his eyes for a moment as he could practically see them. Even though there were plenty of times where they were scared or in pain, he thought of the good times. Hunk's excited face over fiddling with the castle's engines, Pidge's smirk as she cracked a code, Shiro's amusement over their antics, Keith's shy smile as he hesitantly showed his latest drawing, Allura's puzzled expression over "human things", Coran's sheer enthusiasm for life.

If they had never come here, he never would have seen any of that.

" _Isn't it nice to find yourself somewhere different? Whoa-oh. Why don't you let yourself just be wherever you are?"_

When Lance opened his eyes, he started a bit to find them all right there next to him. Allura and Coran were watching with fascination as his fingers continued to strum the twumm, while Shiro just huffed a bit at his somewhat startled expression. Hunk just smiled proudly at him, knowing how much he enjoyed playing and singing, and Pidge adjusted her glasses as she settled in to listen. Keith was sitting the closest to him, and as Lance's gaze drifted over to him, he had that soft smile on his face again.

Lance couldn't help but return the smile as he sang on.

" _Look at this place; look at your faces! They're shining like a thousand shining stars!"_

Lance couldn't help but tilt his head towards the window, making the comparison clear.

And when they all smiled at him, it certainly seemed as bright and beautiful as the night sky.

" _Isn't it it nice to find yourself somewhere different? Whoa-oh. Why don't you let yourself just be wherever you are?"_

The tempo slowed and Lance felt his heartbeat seem to slow as well. He gazed out the window, away from his friends, as that slightly melancholic feeling began to return.

" _Why don't you let yourself just be somewhere different? Whoa-oh. Why don't you let yourself just be whoever you are?"_

Lance wasn't sure who started the group hug as the last chord rang, but he welcomed it. He let himself fall back into their comfort and he couldn't help the smile that formed on his face.

He may miss home, but as long as the others were here, this was an okay place to be.

So he'd let himself be.

* * *

 _AN: So the song, of course, is "Be Wherever You Are" from Steven Universe (which I also do not own). I've had the idea for this fic for ages and it's been worked on intermittently while in my Google Docs for the past week or so. It's just, I was listening to the song and I suddenly had the image of Lance singing and playing this and the rest of the team noticing and slowly gathering around him and all of them hugging at the end. So this is that. I hope you enjoyed this._


End file.
